Common Ground, Common Courtesy and Common Sense

It seems that all three of the themes expressed in the title of this article have been overlooked the last few decades and now that the problem is becoming so rampant, perhaps it is a time to look for some common ground, exchange some common courtesy and work out our differences with a healthy dose of common sense.

Common Ground

If you allow someone to drag you into an argument, you have already lost.

Still, if we can find no common ground, how do we form any basis for the beginning of a conversation?

Show me a man who agrees with everything and I will show you a man who believes in nothing.

While that may be true of some people, it is certainly not true of anyone who wishes to solve problems rather than adding to the ones that already exist.

Society today is ripe with problems and far too often people are so caught up by the politics of division that they are caught up in that they forget we all have common ground somewhere along the line. If you do not believe this is true, take it down to its most basic level. When you get cut your blood comes out red. When I get cut, my blood comes out red. There is common ground. So now the question arises, do we bleed each other out to see whose blood is redder or do we accept that we both want to survive and move on towards the next point in an effort to find even more common ground.

If we bleed each other out, we may realize that we both bleed red to the very end but neither one of us will be around to get anywhere after that. If we accept that we both have a desire to survive and maybe even prosper, we can move on to the next round. We all know someone is to blame but do we really get anywhere blaming the other guy all the time? Does it matter more that somebody created a problem that affects all of us or would you agree that it is more important to find a solution together? To do that, we need to find some common ground and if you are red blooded, you and I already have some common ground.

Common Courtesy

Okay, we all know that there are some major problems with the nation today. We all know that someone is to blame. Are we going to be able to make any progress as long as we argue about whose fault it is?

As long as we are arguing, the government is going to be busy screwing us both so we are all going to lose.

Unless you are going to sit there and try to convince me that you are so totally incompetent that you REQUIRE the government to come in and fix every little problem in your life, we would both be better served looking for a solution together.

In order to make any progress at all, we need to admit there is a problem, we need to admit that there is also a solution and we have to look past our individual problems long enough to solve the bigger problems first. When the bigger problems are solved, we can start moving down the list towards the smaller problems. It does not matter if you are gay, straight, black, white, brown, male, female, democrat, republican or even American.

If we are going to solve our differences, we need to look at each other with a modicum of respect first.

To think that everyone (or even anyone) will agree with any of us one-hundred percent of the time is not only foolish but a certain path to failure. Still, that does not mean that there is not room for compromise but compromise only comes from conversation and conversation can only take place when there is a civil discourse.

I am not going to hit you with all of the problems I face and then slap you in the face by blaming them on you and I expect the same courtesy in return.

If you cannot grant someone that courtesy, than you are the one with the problem and that apparently is not concerned about discovering a viable solution. But hey, if you are happy getting screwed by the government, by all means, blame everyone but the one that is doing it but do not blame me when you wake up with a very sore rear end.

Common Sense

If you let someone screw you over once they will get mad if you do not allow them to do it at their leisure. We let the government screw us over so do we now let them do it again while we are busy fighting against each other?

Call me a racist if you want. Me mum is Irish, my dad is German, I was born in the US and raised between the Appalachian Mountains in the heart of West Virginia and Mexico and I now live in the Philippines. Calling me names is not going to get either of us anywhere. Use some common sense.

Define the Problem

Define the Immediate Solution

Implement the Solution IMMEDIATELY

Work on the next problems as they arise

Work out the small stuff once the big picture has been cleaned up some and we can both go to sleep without worrying about being screwed in any fashion we do not personally appreciate.

There are always going to be problems. To believe otherwise would be more than simple naiveté and would be dangerous. We do not live in a perfect world so there are no perfect solutions. Still, nobody cares what you do in your bedroom but when you shove it in someone’s face and tell them that they have to not only accept it but appreciate it, that is going to get thrown back in your face. To believe otherwise certainly does not exhibit any common sense at all.

The solution is simple; keep it in your bedroom and it will stay there. I keep my bedroom affairs in my bedroom and I certainly do not have anybody questioning me about them … well maybe a few but that is friends whom I choose to associate with and not anybody who is attempting to regulate my behavior. Yet you ask me to keep my nose out of your bedroom while you ask me to allow the government to tell me what I can or cannot do in the rest of my home? Does that not even ring a little hypocritical to you?

Common Sense does not include

Telling me that smoking a cigarette is bad while smoking a joint is fine

Raising taxes on a business that the government already profits off of more than the corporation that owns it does, helps that business or the end user who ultimately pays for those taxes.

Telling me that Wall Street is Evil while politicians (on both sides of the aisle) continue to line their pockets with money contributed by the very same people that run Wall Street.

Telling me that taxing a business will help it to grow while taxing a naturally occurring phenomenon will make it go away.

Telling me that killing all the plant life will somehow work to make the planet greener.

Giving up my individual liberties to allow the government who has never been any friend of mine to have more power and control over my life is a good thing.

Common Sense Does Mean

There is a problem and it does not matter if it was created by Bush Sr, W, Obama or even Clinton but that we need to come up with a solution together because government sure as hell is not going to do it for us.

Admitting that neither of us are so blindly foolish or incompetent that we need the government to come in and solve every one of our individual problems including any time that we feel slighted because we had to see a symbol of something that we do not personally agree with.

When you can do that

I do not care who you are or what you are but when you and I can accomplish these three little tenets of life, we can work together and agree on some points even if we have to agree to disagree on other points. When we can sit down on our little piece of common ground together and talk like rational human beings without accusing and attacking, you may be surprised how much we the people can solve and how little we need or even want the government to interfere with our lives.